Theresa May has just returned from Strassbourg with “legal guarantees” of nothing in particular but no change to the Withdrawal Agreement even though Parliament instructed her to find “alternative arrangements” to the Irish backstop (which makes us entirely captive of the EU but which is by no means the only horrendous problem with that disgraceful surrender document)

There are three documents.

THE INSTRUMENT RELATING TO THE AGREEMENT ON THE WITHDRAWAL OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE EUROPEAN ATOMIC ENERGY COMMUNITYBoth sides are “determined” to replace the Irish backstop. But for what? The EU sees a customs union as the replacement. The UK knows that would stop us trading freely with the rest of the world. And as we negotiate interminably we are trapped in the Eu and cannot make trade deals.

There is provision in the WA to refer to the Vienna Convention but the UK will have signed an International Treaty with the EU whose terms are so restrictive of UK freedom that any court would say the UK must stand by its Agreement which does no more than say the EU must use its “best endeavours” to find an Irish border solution. It does not require that it succeeds!

The EU and the UK must “take into consideration adverse proposals or interests”. Which is of no real significance legally.

No negotiating structures or logistical arrangements for the negotiation of a future trade deal are yet in place! as the text makes clear. What a waste of 2 and a half years!The weakest and most pathetic clause is what happens if the EU just keeps delaying (all the while naturally passing laws against the UK in which we have no say).

Under the dispute settlement mechanism, a ruling by the arbitration panel that a party acts with the objective of applying the Protocol indefinitely would be binding on the Union and the United Kingdom. Persistent failure by a party to comply with a ruling, and thus persistent failure by that party to return to compliance with its obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement, may result in temporary remedies. Ultimately, the aggrieved party would have the right to enact a unilateral, proportionate suspension of its obligations under the Withdrawal Agreement (other than Part Two), including the Protocol.

Oh dear! What a threat. No withdrawal. No action. No grasping of freedom form the EU’s clutches - just “suspension of our obligations”